Cigarette pack with integral innerframe

ABSTRACT

The invention may include a cigarette package for containing a plurality of cigarettes, the cigarette package comprising a main body portion and a lid portion. The body portion may include a front panel, a first side panel adjacent the front panel of the main body portion, a second side panel adjacent to the front panel of the main body portion and spaced from the first side panel of the main body portion, a back panel adjacent to the first and second side panels of the main body portion and spaced from the front panel of the main body portion, and a bottom panel adjacent the front panel of the main body portion, the side panels of the main body portion and the back panel of the main body portion. The main body portion may have a first portion and a second portion, with the second portion being compressed to a thickness that is less than the first portion. The lid portion may include a front panel, a first side panel adjacent the front panel of the lid portion, a second side panel adjacent to the front panel of the lid portion and spaced from the first side panel of the lid portion, a back panel adjacent to the first and second side panels of the lid portion and spaced from the front panel of the lid portion, the back panel of lid portion being integral with the back panel of the main body portion; and a top panel adjacent the front panel of the lid portion, first and second side panels of the lid portion and back panel of the lid portion. The compressed portion may be provided with “I”-shaped of V-shaped cuts to alleviate damage to the pack material.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of provisional applicationSer. No. 60/842,774, filed Sep. 7, 2006, for all useful purposes, andthe specification and drawings thereof are included herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to cigarette packs and more particularlyto a cigarette pack with an integral innerframe.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hinged lid boxes are known in the art of cigarette packaging. Hinged lidboxes have two components: a pack blank and an innerframe. The packblank provides a rigid support that protects the cigarettes from beingcrushed or broken. A top portion of the pack blank is designed to rotatebackwards for access to the cigarettes. The innerframe is provided inthe top portion of the pack to engage with the top portion. Theinnerframe secures the lid so that it does not open inadvertently.

Currently, the pack blank and innerframe are constructed separately andthen glued or otherwise engaged to form a finished product. Onedisadvantage of forming the two components separately is that theincreased number of processing steps and materials increases costs.Another disadvantage is that the separate production and attachmentsteps of the two components introduces more opportunity forimperfections in the finished product, including imperfections resultingfrom inexact machine cuts, imperfect component positioning, andinsufficient amounts of glue between the components. These imperfectionscan decrease the quality and consistency of the hinged lid box closure.

It is desired within the art to reduce pack imperfections and improvethe consistency of a hinged lid closure.

It is also desireable to reduce inventory of expensive machine parts,innerframe material, and glue associated with multiple componentprocessing and gluing.

It is still further desirable to save costs by reducing the amount ofpaperboard or cardboard, and glue used, as well as to substantiallyreduce machine down time by eliminating the separate innerframe set-upand associated jams.

The art also seeks an efficient way to insert a coupon inside thecigarette hinged lid box on cigarette packers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides an improved cigarette pack with an integralinnerframe. By incorporating the innerframe with the pack blank, theamount of paper board used is reduced by approximately 50%.Additionally, no glue is required between the innerframe and pack blankbecause these components are constructed from the same piece ofmaterial.

The invention will reduce machine down time for creating a finishedproduct because the machine downtime caused by the production of aseparate innerframe component is eliminated.

The invention may include a cigarette package for containing a pluralityof cigarettes, the cigarette package comprising a main body portion anda lid portion. The body portion may include a front panel, a first sidepanel adjacent the front panel of the main body portion, a second sidepanel adjacent to the front panel of the main body portion and spacedfrom the first side panel of the main body portion, a back paneladjacent to the first and second side panels of the main body portionand spaced from the front panel of the main body portion, and a bottompanel adjacent the front panel of the main body portion, the side panelsof the main body portion and the back panel of the main body portion.The main body portion may have a first portion and a second portion,with the second portion being compressed to a thickness that is lessthan the first portion. The lid portion may include a front panel, afirst side panel adjacent the front panel of the lid portion, a secondside panel adjacent to the front panel of the lid portion and spacedfrom the first side panel of the lid portion, a back panel adjacent tothe first and second side panels of the lid portion and spaced from thefront panel of the lid portion, the back panel of lid portion beingintegral with the back panel of the main body portion, and a top paneladjacent the front panel of the lid portion, first and second sidepanels of the lid portion and back panel of the lid portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Novel features and advantages of the present invention in addition tothose mentioned above will be readily apparent to persons of ordinaryskill in the art from a reading of the following detailed description inconjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein similar referencecharacters refer to similar parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a hinged lid cigarette box havingan integral compressed innerframe of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a right side elevational view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a pattern layout of the hinged lid cigarette box of FIG. 1 and

FIG. 2 wherein the stippled area is the integral compressed innerframe;

FIG. 4 is a fragmental cross-sectional view in elevation taken alongline 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmental pattern view showing an “I” cut on the fold lineto prevent damage to the innerframe during folding; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmental pattern view of a “V” cut on and around the foldlines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference tothe drawings.

According to one aspect of the preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS.1-4, a cigarette pack blank and innerframe are formed of a singlecomponent to be used for cigarette packaging.

A cigarette pack blank 10 according to the invention, as shown by way ofexample in FIGS. 1 and 2, may comprise a main body portion 12 with anintegral compressed portion 13 that serves the function of aninnerframe, and a lid portion 14, which may be attached to, or integralwith, main body portion 12 along hinge line 15. Main body portion 12,including the compressed portion 13, and lid portion 14 may be formed ofpaperboard, paper, cardboard or other suitable material for use inhousing and protecting a plurality of cigarettes.

Main body portion 12 may include a front panel 16, a first side panel 18adjacent the front panel, a second side panel 20 adjacent to the frontpanel and spaced from the first side panel 18, a back panel 22 adjacentto the two side panels 18, 20 and spaced from front panel, and a bottompanel 24. Bottom panel 24 may be adjacent to the front panel 16, sidepanels 18, 20 and back panel 22 to collectively form an interior openingfor accepting a plurality of cigarettes. Lid portion 14 may comprise afront panel 26, a first side panel 28 adjacent front panel 26, a secondside panel 30 adjacent to front panel 26 and spaced from the first sidepanel 28, a back panel 32 adjacent to side panels 28, 30 and spaced fromfront panel 26, and a top panel 34 adjacent the front panel 26, sidepanels 28, 30 and back panel 32. Back panel 32 of lid portion 14 may beintegral with the back panel 22 of the main body 12. Lid retention tabs35 may be used to secure lid portion 14 in place when the lid portion 14is in the closed position. Such retention tabs are shown, for example,in U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,898, where they are denoted by referencecharacter 130 in FIG. 7 therein.

FIG. 3 more particularly shows the layout of cigarette pack 10 prior tothe folding and gluing process that is used to create the final product.Main body portion 12 may have a compressed portion 13. As shown in FIG.4, the compressed portion 13 may be thinner in cross-section than therest of main body portion 12, which may be uncompressed or lesscompressed relative to compressed portion 13. Compressed portion 13 mayserve as the innerframe for the cigarette pack and may have threedistinct sections: a first section 36 on front panel 16, a secondsection 38 on side panel 18, and a third section 40 on side panel 20.The second compressed section 38 and third compressed section 40 mayhave thicknesses smaller than the first compressed section 36. Thethickness of each of the three sections is selected to give a flat andflush finished pack along and sides of the pack after closing the lid.For example, an appropriate thickness range for the compressed andnon-compressed sections is 0.011-0.014 inches.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, main body portion 12 and compressed portion13 may be formed from the same piece of material. Compressed portion 13and/or main body portion 12 may be embossed, debossed, or formed by anyother suitable technique for creating a region of reduced thickness.

In FIG. 3, the compressed portion 13 is designated using stippling. Alsoin FIG. 3, folded regions are illustrated by broken lines. Solid lines,other than the solid lines at the boundary of the compressed region 13,denote cuts that are made in the cigarette pack material. The creationand use of such cuts and fold lines to form a pack blank is generallyconventional in the art as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,024.

Compressed portion 13 may be provided with “I”-shaped radius cuts 42 or“V”-shaped radius cuts 44 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively. Witha “V” shaped radius cut the bottom of the “V” is a radius cut as opposedto a sharp angle cut. “I”-shaped radius cuts 42 may be positioned alongthe fold line and boundary between first compressed section 36 andsecond compressed section 38 and between first compressed section 36 andthird compressed section 40. “V”-shaped radius cuts 44 may have similarvertical cuts 44 a and may additionally have cuts 44 b along theboundary between second compressed section 38 and the non-, or less,compressed portion of side panel 18 and along the boundary between thirdcompressed section 40 and the non-, or less, compressed portion of sidepanel 20. Radius cuts 42 and 44 may prevent or alleviate any damage tothe package material during pack formation. These cuts may also help tooffset the fold line 46 between the first compressed section 36 andsecond compressed section 38 and the fold line 48 between front panel 36and side panel 28. Also, retention cuts 50 may be made as shown in FIGS.5 and 6 to form the lid retention tabs 35 of FIG. 1.

This unique integrated innerframe design may be utilized with theexisting innerframe section on a conventional cigarette packer forcoupon insertion operation.

If the coupon insert is not used, the present innerframe cuttingassembly and innerframe forming and positioning wheel can be eliminated.By eliminating these assemblies there is no inventory or restocking ofexpensive machine parts. Machine efficiency is increased and downtimedue to innerframe set-up and jams is reduced. On the other hand, whencoupons are inserted, the current innerframe application station of thepacking machine may then be utilized for the coupon insertion.

The embodiments described above are further intended to explain the bestmodes known of practicing the invention and to enable others skilled inthe art to utilize the invention in such, or other, embodiments and withthe various modifications required by the particular applications oruses of the invention. Accordingly, the description is not intended tolimit the invention to the form disclosed herein. Also, it is intendedthat the appended claims be construed to include alternativeembodiments.

1. A cigarette pack comprising: a main body portion including a front panel, a first side panel adjacent the front panel of the main body portion, a second side panel adjacent to the front panel of the main body portion and spaced from the first side panel of the main body portion, a back panel adjacent to the first and second side panels of the main body portion and spaced from the front panel of the main body portion, and a bottom panel adjacent the front panel of the main body portion, the side panels of the main body portion and the back panel of the main body portion, and wherein the main body portion has a first portion and a second portion, said second portion being compressed; and a lid portion including a front panel, a first side panel adjacent the front panel of the lid portion, a second side panel adjacent to the front panel of the lid portion and spaced from the first side panel of the lid portion, a back panel adjacent to the first and second side panels of the lid portion and spaced from the front panel of the lid portion, the back panel of lid portion being integral with the back panel of the main body portion and a top panel adjacent the front panel of the lid portion, first and second side panels of the lid portion and back panel of the lid portion.
 2. The cigarette pack of claim 1, wherein said second portion of the main body has a thinner cross-section than the first portion of main body portion.
 3. The cigarette pack of claim 2, wherein said second portion has three distinct sections: a first compressed section on the front panel of the main body portion, a second compressed section on the first side panel of the main body portion, and a third compressed section on the second side panel.
 4. The cigarette pack of claim 3, wherein the second compressed section and third compressed section have thicknesses smaller than the first compressed section.
 5. The cigarette pack of claim 4, wherein the first second and third compressed sections have thicknesses in the range of 0.011-0.014 inches.
 6. The cigarette pack of claim 3, further comprising a first retention cut between the first and second compressed sections and a second retention cut between the first and third compressed portions, said first and second retention cuts for securing the lid portion of the cigarette pack to the main body portion.
 7. The cigarette pack of claim 3, further comprising a first radius cut defined by a first cut between the first and second compressed sections and a second radius cut defined by a first cut between the first and third compressed sections.
 8. The cigarette pack of claim 7, wherein the first radius cut has a second cut formed between the second compressed section and the first side panel in the first portion of the main body portion, the first and second cuts of the first radius cut forming a “V”-shaped cut; and wherein the second radius cut has a second cut between the third compressed section and the second side panel in the first portion of the main body portion, the first and second cuts of the second radius cut forming a “V”-shaped cut.
 9. The cigarette pack of claim 1, wherein said second portion of the main body serves as an innerframe. 